WCAX in Rutland did a story on the new Disaster Hub at the United Church of Ludlow. Watch here!

LUDLOW, Vt. – Members of the United Church of Ludlow overwhelmingly voted to become an Open and Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), welcoming lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) and all marginalized people into the full life of the church.

Read the entire article in the Vermont Journal!

PRESS RELEASE
 
United Church of Ludlow
48 Pleasant St.
Ludlow, VT 05149
unitedchurch.us
 
CONTACT:
Michelle Fountain, Pastor                                                                  
802-356-8046                         
[email protected]
 
RELEASE DATE:
Jan. 26, 2025
  
UNITED CHURCH OF LUDLOW VOTES TO BECOME OPEN & AFFIRMING
 
Vote means Ludlow Church Fully Welcomes LGBTQ+ & Marginalized People
 
LUDLOW, VT (Jan. 26, 2025) – Members of the United Church of Ludlow overwhelming voted to become an Open and Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC) on Sunday, welcoming lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) and all marginalized people into the full life of the church.
 
Immediately afterward, the congregation -- a united church affiliated with both the UCC and the United Methodist Church (UMC) -- voted to become a Reconciling Congregation of the UMC.
 
“Jesus welcomed everyone, without exception, and we at the United Church of Ludlow do as well,” said Pastor Michelle Fountain. “We are excited to show that we are a safe space sharing Jesus Christ's inclusive love with all people, whoever they are and wherever they are in their life and faith journey. In a time where some emphasize exclusion and division, we stand for the unity of all in the one body of Christ.”
 
“Open and Affirming” (ONA) is a movement of more than 1,800 churches and other ministries in the United Church of Christ that welcome LGBTQ+ members, support their relationships, and advocate for their basic rights. The “Reconciling Ministries Network” of the United Methodist Church, with 1,440 churches and more than 46,000 individual members, is committed to intersectional justice across and beyond the United Methodist connection, working for the full participation of all LGBTQ+ people throughout the life and leadership of the Church.
 
The vote at the United Church of Ludlow’s Annual Meeting on Sunday, Jan. 26, came a year after it approved a new Mission Statement that the congregation is “striving to live God’s message of inclusive love through Jesus Christ in our community, nation, and world.”
 
United Church of Ludlow’s History of Inclusiveness
 
These actions are the latest in the United Church of Ludlow’s history of seeking unity and inclusivity. It has always declared itself to be a welcoming congregation that serves all, and in 2009, it voted to allow the pastor to perform Civil Unions. In August 2022, a “Building Inclusivity Team” was formed to consider becoming Open and Affirming. It first developed a Mission and a Vision, working with the congregation, and the following was passed at the Annual Meeting in January 2024:
 
MISSION:
Striving to live God’s message of inclusive love through Jesus Christ in our community, nation, and world.
 
VISION:
As we strive to live God’s message of love, we:
Welcome everyone,
Celebrate diversity,
Nurture spiritual growth,
Work toward peace and justice,
Serve our community, nation, and world.
 
The Building Inclusivity Team then led the congregation in examining what it means to be truly welcoming, why it matters, and to prepare for an Open and Affirming Vote. The team also reviewed Open and Affirming Covenants from other churches and came up with the following statement, which was approved on Sunday:
 
United Church of Ludlow
ONA Statement
 
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:34)
 
We, the United Church of Ludlow, value and welcome a diverse congregation. We are an Open and Affirming (ONA) church, believing that each of us is created in God’s image. We celebrate everyone, including: people of all ages, races, cultures, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, family configurations, economic circumstances, education, physical, cognitive, or emotional abilities, spiritual and religious traditions.
 
We welcome all to participate fully in the life, leadership, ministry, and mission of this church as we seek to grow together spiritually in an open, safe, and nurturing community of faith. We strive to live God’s message of inclusive love through Jesus Christ in our community, nation, and world
 
We commit ourselves to the ongoing work of being an ONA Congregation, seeking peace and justice as we live out the belief that God is still speaking. With God’s grace, we journey together in Christian faith.
 
Reconciling Congregation Statement
 
The congregation also approved the following statement to become a UMC Reconciling Congregation:
 
“We celebrate God’s gift of diversity and value the wholeness made possible in community equally shared and shepherded by all. We welcome and affirm people of every gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, who are also of every age, race, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, level of education, and family structure, and of every economic, immigration, marital, and social status, and so much more. We acknowledge that we live in a world of profound social, economic, and political inequities. As followers of Jesus, we commit ourselves to the pursuit of justice and pledge to stand in solidarity with all who are marginalized and oppressed.”
 
UCC - Inclusive Church History

 
Four streams -- Evangelical, Reformed, Congregational, and Christian -- originally came together to form the United Church of Christ. In 1957, after centuries of division, the newly formed denomination came to embody the New Testament mandate "that they may all be one."
 
As people around the world labor for justice for all, the United Church of Christ has led the way. Acceptance and justice for the LGBTQ+ community is one of many initiatives that have propelled it forward. In the United States, its predecessor denomination, the Congregationalists, ordained the first black man and the first woman into authorized ministry. The first openly gay man was authorized for Christian Ministry in a mainline Protestant denomination in 1972; ten years later, the first openly lesbian woman was ordained. In 1985, General Synod 15 (national meeting) urged congregations to declare themselves “Open and Affirming” (ONA) (openandaffirming.org/), and the National Coalition certified the first ONA churches two years later. In a continuation of this vision of inclusivity, General Synod 25 called for equal marriage rights for all couples.
 
UMC - Reconciling Ministry History
 
The “Reconciling Ministries Network” (RMN) of the United Methodist Church (rmnetwork.org/) has been working since 1984 to advance justice and inclusion for all LGBTQ+ people in the UMC and beyond, through grassroots organizing, resourcing, and educating, denomination-level change-making, pastoral care, and working with faithful people.
 
RMN began as a faith-based response to institutionalized homophobia braided into the fabric of the United Methodist Church, and now spans four continents. The denomination in 2024 eliminated the requirement to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, but the work continues.
 
About the United Church of Ludlow
 
The United Church of Ludlow is a small, inclusive, vibrant United Church of Christ/United Methodist Church in Ludlow, VT. In January 2025, the congregation voted to become an Open and Affirming Congregation of the UCC and a Reconciling Congregation of the UMC. Its mission is to strive to live God’s message of inclusive love through Jesus Christ in our community, nation, and world. Services are held on Sunday mornings at 10 AM, in person or on Zoom. The pastor is Michelle Fountain.
 
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​LUDLOW, Vt. – The community is invited to kick off the Christmas season with a festive night of holiday-themed Singo, featuring live music by Ludlow musician Sammy Blanchette, on Sunday, Nov. 24, from 6:30-8 p.m., at the United Church of Ludlow, 48 Pleasant Street. Read the whole article in the Vermont Journal.  Read more in the local newspapers! Click on the logos.

Thanks again, Jane Reichlen McGarry and Sammy Blanchette!

https://www.chestertelegraph.org/2024/07/01/singo-fundraiser-packs-united-church-hall-raises-1120-for-bell-restoration/

We currently have a UCC pastor, but the United Church of Ludlow is also United Methodist. So we need to share what happened today in the UMC: United Methodist delegates at General Conference repealed the church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy with no debate, removing a rule forbidding “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as ministers. Read the whole story at https://apnews.com/article/united-methodist-lgbtq-clergy-general-conference-acabe18fe22b6838e3005ad8895534fa. The story also explains the history behind the decision and how it split the United Methodist Church.

Here at the United Church of Ludlow, we recently adopted a new vision that says, "We are striving to live God’s message of inclusive love through Jesus Christ in our community, nation, and world." Thus we are happy to see God's inclusive love reflected in this historic and long-awaited decision. Welcome, all!

CONTACTS:
Dean Alexander, 631-255-0522, [email protected]
Laura Creaser, 802-236-7310, [email protected]
“Ring Out Love” Capital Funds Drive Committee members

RELEASE DATE:
April 1, 2024
 
UNITED CHURCH OF LUDLOW LAUNCHES CAPITAL CAMPAIGN TO RESTORE HISTORIC CHURCH BELL
 
Community Invited to Kick-Off Service & Reception April 28
 
LUDLOW, VT (April 1, 2024) – The United Church of Ludlow officially kicks off a $50,000 Capital Campaign to restore its historical bell with a service and community reception on Sunday, April 28, 2024.
 
With the campaign theme, “Ring Out Love,” the United Church is seeking support from the community as it works to not only repair the disintegrating supports on its venerable bell, but also to make upgrades to improve accessibility and to help neighbors in need. The kick-off begins with the 10 AM Sunday service in the Sanctuary of the church at 48 Pleasant Street in Ludlow, followed by a reception at 11:30 AM in the Fellowship Hall.
 
The History of the Bell
 
Built in 1891 as the Congregational Church of Ludlow, the United Church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the only churches in Vermont constructed in a fully mature expression of shingle-style architecture. Its Congregationalist congregation was organized in 1806, and in 1930 it merged with a Methodist congregation to form a union congregation and become the United Church of Ludlow.
 
The Church’s 1,000-pound-plus bell was cast by the Holbrook Bell Foundry of East Medway, MA, in 1839, when Martin Van Buren was president, only 50 years after the Constitution of the United States became effective. Members of the public had the opportunity to take tours of the belfry in 2012 when the church threw a huge party to celebrate the 120th birthday of the church’s building and the 220th birthday of its founding. More information about the bell is available on the United Church website.
 
Over the years, the United Church has become a community gathering place in Ludlow, hosting concerts, events, dinners, game nights, and meetings of local non-profit organizations, including Black River Good Neighbor Services’ Memory Café to support people with dementia.
 
New Inclusive Mission
 
The United Church also wants to share the new, inclusive Mission Statement that the congregation approved at its Annual Meeting in January: “We are striving to live God’s message of inclusive love through Jesus Christ in our community, nation, and world.”
 
Its new Vision Statement is as follows:
 
As we strive to live God’s message of love, we:
welcome everyone,
celebrate diversity,
nurture spiritual growth,
work toward peace and justice,
serve our community, nation, and world.
 
This Capital Campaign takes those words to heart, as the funds raised will also be used to make audio upgrades that will enable those with hearing issues, or those only able to attend services via Zoom, to fully participate in the life of the church. The church also plans to complete the foundation of its recently added handicapped addition, which provides easier access to the building for those with mobility issues. Finally, the United Church plans to use 10% of the funds raised in support of its mission of service.
 
Anyone wishing to donate is invited to mail a check made out to “United Church of Ludlow” and mail it to Anne Oakes, Receiver of Offerings, 145 Merrill Rd., Ludlow, VT 05149, with the memo “Ring Out Love Campaign.”
 
About United Church of Ludlow
 
The United Church of Ludlow is a small, inclusive, vibrant United Church of Christ/United Methodist Church in Ludlow, VT. In January 2024, the congregation approved as its mission that is striving to live God’s message of inclusive love through Jesus Christ in our community, nation, and world. Services are held on Sunday mornings at 10 AM, in person or on Zoom. Its website is unitedchurch.us. The pastor is Michelle Fountain.
 
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